


Not Just Friends

by enbyred



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Communication, F/M, Fluff, Season 3 Spoilers, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-25
Updated: 2019-11-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:41:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21555673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/enbyred/pseuds/enbyred
Summary: Their relationship has changed, and they need to talk about how.
Relationships: Callum/Rayla (The Dragon Prince)
Comments: 27
Kudos: 343





	Not Just Friends

“It’s because Rayla is a hero.”

Her head pops up from the rope. That was _not_ what she was expecting to hear from him. All she can manage is “What?”

Callum has a small smile on his lips as he continues, “Rayla saves people. She’s brave. She does what’s right, even if it puts her own life in danger, and even when the odds seem impossible.” He turns to look at her, and the expression in his eyes...the last time he looked at her like that - only hours ago - she hadn’t been able to resist kissing him. Yet he keeps going. “Even when it means her own people might misunderstand and turn against her. Rayla is selfless, strong, and caring. That’s what makes her a hero.” That word makes her heart skip a beat. “That’s what makes her...Rayla.”

Her heart is pounding in her chest. He’s so genuine, and his tone is so caring, and dare she say it, _loving_ , that she can hardly breathe. The only functioning part of her consciousness processes that Nyx has flown up to sit on the ambler’s head, but the rest of her mind is full of _Callum, Callum, Callum._

He takes a step toward her. “You are so…”

Before he finishes his sentence, and before Rayla can even process what he’s doing, his lips are on hers. She closes her eyes, letting this new feeling wash over her as he pulls away.

“Oh-oh no, I’m s-I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Callum immediately begins, fear taking the place of whatever else had been in his eyes. “I-I just got carried away? And the next thing I knew, my-my lips were getting way ahead of me, and-”

Rayla rolls her eyes. “Shut up.”

He blinks at her. “What?”

She grabs a fistful of his scarf, pulling him a few inches closer, and only pauses for a moment to look at him - he’s confused, and scared, probably of what she’s going to do to him. She _had_ threatened him earlier. Multiple times. Perhaps he’s expecting her to act out in aggression.

But instead, she presses her lips back onto his. Her grip on his scarf loosens, letting her hand rest on his chest as she moves closer to him and she feels his arms make their way around her. She wasn’t sure this moment would ever come, but now he’s here with her, and he’s kissing her with the same enthusiasm she feels, and her heart is going to beat out of her chest, and she’s dizzy, and she feels like she’s _flying_ , and how did it all end up like this? She doesn’t care. His lips are soft, and his touch is gentle, and he holds her firmly against him, and this is all she’s wanted. How could she possibly care about anything else?

They part far too soon, and Rayla doesn’t try to stop the smile that makes its way onto her face.

“Wow,” whispers Callum. He’s relaxed now. All of the tension each of them held has melted away, and she can’t tear her gaze away from his. The only thing she knows is that she already misses his warmth.

She pulls him closer to her, kissing him once more. This time is different from the first few. They’re both expecting it. She sees him moving toward her as well as she closes the distance between them. There’s no aggression. There’s no fear.

There’s just Callum. Callum, and his lips, and his embrace, and every feeling Rayla has that she is pouring into the kiss. She feels herself melt into it. Into _him_.

When they finally resurface again, her hand goes to Callum’s cheek. All she wants to do is look at him. Show him how deeply she feels for him. Show him how hard she’ll fight for him. No matter what.

“I guess we should talk about this, huh?” Callum murmurs, guiding her to sit down with him, but never breaking contact.

Resigned, Rayla sighs, “Do we have to? Can’t we just...be?”

“We could,” he admits, shifting so his arm is around her shoulders, tucking her into his side. “But I think it’s for the best that we don’t leave it ambiguous for ourselves. If anyone should know what’s going on between us, shouldn’t it be us?” She only grunts in response before feeling his fingers lightly stroking her hair. “How are you feeling, Rayla? What do you want out of this?”

With a chuckle, she asks, “Wasn’t it pretty clear when I first kissed you a few hours ago?” She’s diverting the question, and she knows it. But even so, what is there to say? It’s obvious, she thinks, how she feels about him, and in turn, how he feels about her.

“Okay, I’ll go first,” he decides, combing a knot out of her hair with his fingers. “I’m feeling... nervous. But mostly really, really happy. Because...I want this. I want this with you, and I want to be by your side, and to help you through hard times, and to hang out with you all the time, and to kiss you, and to lo...to... _learn_ with you. To learn about myself and about you and about us and about the world.” His arm tightens around her. “I want _you_.”

All she can do is turn her face into his shoulder to avoid looking at him. Her heart hasn’t stopped pounding. She’s thought about him saying things like that so many times over the past few weeks, and even more so once they entered Xadia. Finally hearing him say it...she’s not sure how she’s going to handle it.

Quietly, he questions, “Can I ask you when you fell for me?”

She thinks back to their adventures and sighs. Every moment with him is such a fond memory. After a moment, she mutters, “I think it was...when you first said you trusted me. When I told you about my hand. But I didn’t notice it for a while.”

“Mm,” is Callum’s only response for a moment. “When did you notice it?”

She sits back a bit, looking down at their feet and resting her head on Callum’s shoulder instead of burying her face in it. That memory...isn’t quite so fond. “When you were unconscious. After using dark magic. I realized how badly I didn’t want to lose you. And how much you mean to me.”

He stills. It obviously isn’t the answer he’s expecting.

“I realized before you,” he chuckles. “The day before, I think. We were talking on the cliff about magic, and I asked you how it feels to use your Moonshadow magic.”

A laugh bubbles from deep within her, and she can’t help but let it out. “When I did that whole dramatic _Moonshadow powers_ bit?”

“Yes!” Callum laughs back. “It was so _stupid_ and _completely unhelpful_ , but it was great, and I just...realized that I wanted to be with you and see you do dumb stuff like that forever.”

Forever. Forever’s a long time. And he wants to spend it with her.

She feels her cheeks flush.

Turning to him, she leans forward to kiss him again.

He stops her with a finger on her lips and a smirk on his face.

“Not until we’ve finished talking about this.”

Groaning, Rayla whines, “I thought we _were_ finished.”

“Let’s at least talk about what we are now,” he suggests, his arm slipping away from her shoulders so he can hold her hand instead. “We’re obviously not just friends anymore.”

“No, I suppose not,” she mutters. “Do we have to have a name for it? Can’t we just be...a thing? Just be us?”

“We don’t have to have a name for it,” he confirms. “We can just be _a thing_ . But we should know what that _means_.”

A growl in her voice, she says, “It means I want to kiss you and that you’re making it very difficult right now.”

He laughs once more, tucking her hair behind her ear. “Talking about this is just as important as it is that it’s happening.” Before she can react, he presses a quick kiss to her lips, making her squeak in surprise.

“Wait, I wasn’t ready!” she complains, scrambling closer to him. He sits decidedly back, a playful smirk on his face. She relents and says, “We’ll talk about it in the morning, okay? Come on, one more time!”

“One more time,” he chuckles. “Are you ready?”

Dramatically, pushing her hair back, she says, “ _Now_ I’m ready. Kiss me.” She wraps her arms around his neck and pulls him closer to press their lips together.

It’s just as electrifying. Her stomach is doing flips, but her heart is soaring. She never wants that feeling to go away. It’s the best thing she’s ever experienced. _He’s_ the best thing she’s ever experienced.

He pulls away and is about to say something before he gets cut off by a yawn. That only makes her realize the exhausting washing over her own body, and she stifles a yawn was well.

“We should get some sleep,” she says, leaning against the wall of the ambler’s saddle.

Callum nods, leaning his head on her shoulder. “Still a lot of things ahead of us.”

She holds him close to her, and they fall silent.

She isn’t sure if he’s asleep yet or not when she whispers, “It’s just you. That’s all I want, is you.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm still not fully convinced that season three wasn't a dream. I've been in a state of euphoria since Friday.


End file.
